Task force suggests first Kansas dental school

TOPEKA, Kan. - A task force appointed by the Kansas Board of Regents says the state needs to start planning its first dental college.

The task force also said in a report to the regents on Thursday that the state needs to place more students in out-of-state dental colleges.

The regents appointed the task force last October to study insufficient dental care across the state, where 93 of 105 counties do not have enough dentists to serve their residents.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the task force said the state should send more Kansas students to dental schools in Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

The students would receive a tuition subsidy if they committed to work with underserved populations in underserved rural and urban areas of Kansas.